Case Study

A Comprehensive Downtown Strategy Amid Transition

Client: City of Pekin, Illinois
Engagement: Downtown Reinvestment Strategy
Timeline: September 2022 – January 2023

The Challenge

Downtown Pekin is a large, complex historic district with strong fundamentals and long-standing challenges. City leadership sought an outside partner to evaluate conditions, clarify priorities, and develop a reinvestment strategy that could guide future budgeting and decision-making.

The engagement took place during a period of significant internal strain, including leadership turnover, political tension, and organizational instability.

The Work

Reader Area Development was engaged to deliver a comprehensive downtown reinvestment strategy grounded in market realities, physical conditions, and local capacity.

The engagement included:

  • Extensive site visits and block-by-block evaluation of downtown buildings, storefronts, and public spaces

  • Interviews with business owners, stakeholders, and city staff

  • A full Downtown Report documenting building conditions, business mix, branding gaps, and sense-of-place challenges

  • Identification of catalytic sites and priority redevelopment opportunities

  • Downtown walking and development tours

  • Development of complementary programs to address building stabilization, business support, and placemaking

  • A four-year action plan aligned with available tools such as TIF, Business Development District funds, and hotel-motel tax revenues

  • A formal presentation to City Council outlining findings, priorities, and funding scenarios

The work was designed to move beyond vision and provide a defensible, fundable roadmap for reinvestment.

The Results

The strategy delivered a clear, phased framework for moving downtown Pekin from vacant to vibrant.

Key outcomes included:

  • A detailed Downtown Report documenting conditions related to buildings, businesses, and branding, including widespread facade deterioration, inconsistent storefront identity, and underutilized public spaces

  • Identification of catalytic sites such as Roxy’s Lanes, the Pekin Union Mission, Old City Hall, and the riverfront as priority opportunities for reinvestment

  • A recommended annual downtown investment framework totaling approximately $2 million, with clearly identified funding sources and assumptions

  • A four-year action checklist sequencing early wins, program launches, business recruitment, placemaking projects, and larger redevelopment initiatives

  • A clear demonstration-block strategy to concentrate early investment and show visible progress

The work provided city leadership with a complete, ready-to-implement playbook for downtown reinvestment.

Download >>> Pekin Downtown Report Presentation

The Reality

While the strategy was formally presented to City Council, it was not adopted or funded as anticipated.

During and shortly after the engagement, the City experienced significant internal disruption, including:

  • A highly conflicted City Council

  • The departure of the Economic Development Manager

  • The firing of the City Manager

  • The resignation of the Mayor

These leadership transitions and internal complexities ultimately prevented the strategy from moving forward, despite the clarity of the recommendations and readiness of the deliverables.

Why It Still Matters

This engagement underscores a reality many communities face: good strategy alone cannot overcome unresolved governance and leadership instability.

What we were able to accomplish:

  • Navigate politically complex environments

  • Deliver clear, defensible analysis even amid uncertainty

  • Build strategies that are grounded, fundable, and implementation-ready

  • Tell hard truths about capacity, sequencing, and readiness

When the time is right, the Pekin Downtown Reinvestment Strategy remains a complete roadmap that can be picked up, updated, and executed without starting over.

Is your downtown ready for reinvestment, or still working through alignment?
If your community needs clarity, structure, and a realistic path forward before making major commitments, Reader Area Development can help you understand what’s possible and what needs to come first.

Let’s talk about what’s possible!

Check your Downtown Momentum Score and book an appointment today.